The Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) is confident that it is on course to take tennis to new heights.
BTA secretary general, Boikobo Gaolebalwe was gushing with optimism at the ongoing International Tennis Federation (ITF) Confederation of African Tennis Under 12/14 Zone 5 championships hosted by BTA.
The week long tournament pitting tennis players from eight of the 12 Southern Africa countries that were expected to grace the event.
Gaolebalwe kept her smile even after Under 12 boys; Jonathan Gaetsaloe and Denzel Seetso were defeated by their South African counterparts Devin Badenhorst and Gerad Henning in the finals. The boys lost 6 -1, 6 -1 in the second of phase two stage to the same South African pair. Gaolebalwe was happy that the two boys managed to reach the finals in their debut international competition.
BTA hailed the performance of the two Botswana debutantes and are confident that this is the beginning of very promising tennis careers.
Botswana girl on the other hand went as far as the semi finals and BTA was impressed with the marked improvement the girls showed.
BTA believes all is not lost and that Botswana lads may pull a few surprises in the last stage of the tournament to progress to the finals.
The BTA is confident that it is fulfilling its mandate to expose young tennis players to international stages at a young age. Gaolebalwe says exposing kids to international competition was good for their development because it helps them gauge their skills and competitiveness against the best in the region.
The eight best players selected from the competition will progress to competing at continental level.
